NCSSM Oral History - 1980-1981
Ultimate Frisbee, 1980-1982
As I remember it, the Ultimate games played between Wyche and Hill started
in the evenings in the Fall of 1980. Most of the male students were living
in Wyche, and everyone was confined to campus after 7 o'clock or so. It was
a choice between reading Crevecoeur and coming out and playing, which for
awhile at least, was a very easy choice for everyone to make. The games
sometime would go on under lights until curfew. It probably slowed down a
bit during the Winter, and more people panicked about studying rather than
playing (I have no doubt that I never turned down a game). Then it became
more critical to recruit people from 3rd floor "Main", and there were lots
of games played in the Spring of 1981. It was many a time that a contingent
of 3rd floor "jocks" like Doug Appleyard would be spotted on their way to
the field, guaranteeing there would be the critical mass needed for yet
another game. The field was cramped and oddly shaped, yet strangely
competitive. The downhill end zone was tight in all dimensions, requiring
finesse, whereas the uphill end zone was wide open, allowing for wild runs
and leaps. A player like me with no speed or throwing ability to speak of
could somehow manage to excel. There wasn't much of a sense of the "proper"
rules, nor many real disputes about the field. It was just a game--a
classic case of improvised, unsupervised athletics. There were probably
more arguments and yelling than I'm willing to remember, but not much got in
the way of the fun.
In the second school year, things fragmented a bit. The male students were
split between Bryan and Hill, and schedules varied wildly. Some of the
juniors had their own ideas about the "rules" and were too cool to use the
word "Frisbee". Nonetheless, the available pool of players doubled, most
problems were smoothed over, and there were some great big, epic games
played in 1981-82. A large number of people participated at least once. As
often as not I think the games were played during dead times in the
afternoon and on weekends. There were some efforts to organize teams and
play on other fields, and although some such games were played, there
weren't really enough players or time to make it work. Most of the games
were played on that Wyche/Hill field with whatever group of people showed
up, with teams selected on the spot. Players went sprawling in the street,
into the fences, over the concrete barriers, anything for the glory of the
moment.
There, that's it. I wouldn't normally post such a thing, but I can't think
of another subject where I would say about the school, "yes, that was good,
that was fun, there was nothing wrong with that, that's worth remembering, I
would do it again". So there.
- Contributed by Frank Hollander '82
Posted 5/6/99 by Kyle Barger